Mortality in Russia: causes, prerequisites and ways to improve the demographic situation

Mortality in Russia is a very acute social problem, which, however, directly affects each of us. We have a huge country with a multimillion population, but the sad statistics, showing how many people are irrevocably left for a year in our state, makes us think.

Statistics for 2015

If we talk about mortality in Russia, then first we should turn to the statistical indicators of the current year. As of January 1, 2015, there were 146 million 267 thousand 288 people residing in Russia (permanent residents). These data were calculated after Rosstat conducted the relevant surveys.
On one square kilometer an average of 8.55 people live - this is the density of the population at the present time. It is worth noting that it is very unevenly distributed. All because the overwhelming majority of Russians (68.2 percent) live in the European part of the Russian Federation, which is only 20.85 percent of the entire country! (Let's not forget that the vast expanses of the Far North are simply unsuitable for human life). The city population is 74.03% of all residents. The rest are people living in villages, urban-type settlements, villages, etc.

Cigarettes - the reason that claimed millions of lives

Mortality in Russia is increasing for several reasons. But one of the most terrible is smoking. I do not want to give now an example of unreliable data that everyone has probably heard about - that, allegedly, one cigarette shortens life by 11 minutes, or that every 6,5 seconds one person in the world dies of his bad habit. It is impossible to calculate and prove this.

However, one should talk about forecasts and real facts. So, for example, annually because of illnesses, one way or another connected with smoking, about 240 thousand people die - and in middle age. In general, this figure is 332 000. WHO made small forecasts, which led to the assumption that in 10 years the world's number of smokers will increase by 500 million people. At the moment, their number is 1.3 billion. The death rate of the population in Russia from smoking is frightening. Most importantly, many of those killed by tobacco smoke could have lived 10 to 30 years longer. Of course, active promotion of a healthy lifestyle is currently under way, however, to prolong their lives or not is everyone's business. But looking at how the statistics of mortality in Russia looks, one should at least think about it.

Reason number 2 - alcohol

Alcoholic mortality is the most severe consequence of alcohol abuse. Unfortunately, our country is on the list of the most "drinkers". And the statistics of mortality in Russia from alcohol is also disappointing. This is also due to the fact that we have strong drinks and surrogates much more than low-grade drinks. Every year, drunkenness and alcoholism kill more than 400,000 lives of Russians. Many experts who study the causes of death in Russia and predict the consequences, say that in the future because of the alcoholization of the population there will be a large demographic decline.

This problem is also being tried to fight - they increase the prices for alcohol, cut down the time of sales, reduce its availability, but there are no visible results. There are small positive shifts, but to achieve a truly meaningful effect this is not enough.

Positive indicators

However, not everything is actually so bad. It is worth looking at the birth rate and mortality in Russia. Beginning in 2010, the population goes "in plus." From 2009 to 2010 the number of residents has increased by almost one million! A colossal index, given that the previous 14 years before there was only a decline. From 1996 to 2009, as a result of a continuous decline in the birth rate, the number of residents decreased from 148,291,638 to 141,903,979, or almost 6.5 million! Fertility and mortality in Russia over the years have shown a negative balance. But in the last five years, fortunately, everything has turned out well. Since 2010, the number of people living in the Russian Federation has increased by 4,363,309 people. The increase, by the way, is faster than the decline in those 14 years. And this is very good - mortality in Russia is declining, and children are born more. Measures taken at the state level should lead to demographic stability.

Diseases

For some time, the mortality in Russia from various diseases was considered a big problem. But recently, in this respect, everything has stabilized. There were fewer deaths from cardiovascular and oncological diseases, tuberculosis. The statistics of mortality in Russia among children under one year is also positive. Such a report was provided last year by the government of the state.

Such positive dynamics was achieved due to the improvement of the material, as well as the technical equipment of hospitals and laboratories, the quality of medical examination, etc. The Government was actively engaged in these and other issues. Tangible results were achieved thanks to the so-called routing of patients. The Ministry of Health claims that deaths from heart diseases and strokes have decreased much more than 40% over the past five years!

What do you need for active growth?

In order for Russia to increase its population more actively, it is necessary to create appropriate conditions for this. Increase maternity payments (in the first place), improve the condition of kindergartens, schools, start to build new, more modern ones. If young families have problems with housing, then in this regard should be considered. In general, actively engage in the development of social programs. Because the birth of a child (especially several) is an incredibly difficult and responsible event. Unfortunately, not all regions of the Russian Federation have conditions for this. What kind of children can you think of when the parents themselves do not have a salary of 15,000 a month? So, in order to increase the birth rate, the state should first of all take care of the conditions. Make it so that people have not only a desire, but also an opportunity to raise children, future patriots of their mighty Motherland.